Felted Denise Needle Bag

Denise Bag - Front, originally uploaded by tanyalizbeth.

This is the bag I made from Cat Bordhi's free pattern to carry my Denise needles around. I love how this bag came out even if it is a little too big. I am especially proud of the pockets because I had never really done zippers before. Cat's instructions made it pretty easy though.

The yarn is a strand of Manos del Uruguay held with a strand of Cascade 220. I think they felted together beautifully. Hand-sewing in the zippers and pocket lining actually took almost as long as knitting the whole thing.

The best compliment I received on this bag was from a male cousin who knows nothing about knitting, he said that it was a waste to put knitting needles in it. :D

Confessions of my Childhood

I have to confess that as a child I was not much of a crafter. My early forays into the world of crafting were largely kits that someone gave me as a gift. One of these that I remember really fondly was shrinky dinks. Now, I admit, I don't remember having this exact kit, but I loved the Smurfs too, so why not?

As a teen I got into the idea of making gifts for family and friend and that was also when I discovered the glory of the glue gun. I can remember many gifts for m y mother or grandmother that involved gluing ribbon onto little wreaths or bears or whatever.

Sometimes I cringe when I remember my early efforts in the world of crafting, but I guess every great artist needs to start somewhere.

Mosaic Mania Continued

I ran across this picture in my files. This is a little doll/toy bench that we (my hubby and me) refinished and then I mosaiced the top. My mom had this sitting in her garage for a long time so I got the idea to do this for her as a secret project while we were visitng her last summer (2006).

She has a bear collection and several of them make their home on this little bench now.

I'm not sure you can tell from this pic, but I actually painted the main tiles as a scene that spanned 6 tiles. Then I used broken tiles to fill in the sides. My DH built a new lid for this that could support the weight of the tiles, grout, etc.

*Warning* Non-Craft Post *Warning*

Self-portrait2, originally uploaded by tanyalizbeth.

I had a chance to get away from it all (read: the kids) and go to San Francisco with my husband for a few days. While he toiled away learning something in a seminar I explored the wonderful city by the sea.

I rambled around on foot mostly and took advantage of an awesome public transportation system. I have tons of pictures and am not sure which ones are the best to share here, but I'll try. I plan to make at least two other posts about the trip because it was just so wonderful.

The city itself was beautiful with lots of interesting architecture. One thing I found fascinating was the number of buildings at odd corners that were triangular. There are so many diagonal streets in SF that I guess it was necessary.

I also got a huge kick out of Chinatown. I have made a brief visit to Chinatown in NYC but this was something completely different. This was like stepping off the train in another country almost. Once you left the main tourist street, Grant, it was a totally different place. Many stores didn't even bother with signs in English. Every conversation I passed was in Chinese, at least I think it was :) . The buildings were all packed together and yet each one had it's own color scheme and decorations. It was very cool.

(More pics coming to this post soon)

Ravelry Rocks! (Part 1)

I have found knitting Nirvana. Now, this may seem like an exaggeration to some, but I mean it. Knitting Utopia is now mine!

Ravelry.com is still in beta testing so you have to get on a waiting list and get invited to join. Trust me, this is totally worth it!

I'm not sure I can even describe for you in words how cool this website is. First there are the Forums. In the forums you can post a question, comment, concern about anything at all fiber/knitting/crochet/weaving/spinning/etc. related and usually receive an answer/response within minutes. I have literally had a technical issue solved for me within five minutes so I could continue knitting. You can also find reviews, usually with at least 2 points of view :), of almost any product you could want. Certainly there are people offering opinions on every yarn you never heard of and also the ones you have. I feel like I am always in the loop in the knitting world because my friendly neighborhood Ravelers (ravelry members) post about everything I need to know.

Well folks, since I am trying to blog every day this month, or at least 30 times I am going to make this a multi-parter since I have so much to say about the glory that is Ravelry!

In upcoming episodes we will address the My Notebook section, the Pattern and Yarn sections and of course the De-stash group. Stay tuned.

My First Crochet Project

Lion Cotton Tote, originally uploaded by tanyalizbeth.

I guess I should qualify the statement in the title with the word successful. This is my first successful crochet project. Several years ago I tried to make a crochet afghan with dismal results. A friend of mine actually ended up finishing the thing for me, nice person that she is. I could not make the edges straight to save my life so I gave up in frustration.

It just so happened that a few months after I took up knitting another friend of mine wanted to take a class at the local Michael's store to freshen-up her crochet skills and she wanted me to go with her. Now, the teacher of the class would have done knitting with me but I thought it would be easier if we all worked on the same project. We decided on this free pattern from Lion Brand, the All-Occasion Tote (you will probably have to log-in to access this pattern, but it's free).

And the result is this tote bag. The funny part is that my friend never made it past the first few inches of her bag before putting it at the back of her work basket :) I guess I'll have to finish it for her and complete this karmic circle.

I will say that I have no plans to do this puff stitch anytime in the near future,the yarn-overs were a real b*tch, but otherwise I think it turned out pretty great.

Birthday Turtle in Parts

Birthday Turtle in Parts, originally uploaded by tanyalizbeth.

Yes, this is the turtle I am making for my daughter's birthday. Luckily I have more of it done than I did when this picture was taken.

I ordered this book, World of Knitted Toys by Kath Dalmeny, and my DD found it on the table. DD promptly sat down and started cataloging what I would make for her from this book.

Needless to say with her birthday coming up I thought I should make her something by hand. The turtle was the one she liked best, so here we are a couple days from the event and all I have is a stack of parts.

Oh well, she is used to stuff like this by now. She knows she will get it eventually. I'll try to remember to post a finished picture.

Chunky Tote

Kitchen & Yarn Stash 033, originally uploaded by tanyalizbeth.

A finished object, hooray me! This chunky little tote is a pattern from a Vogue on the Go book called Bags and Backpacks and the rectangular shape of it really called to me. It's made with Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in colorway
Denim Twist. I knit this with 2 strands held together.

This was fun to knit because it was done on size 17
needles so it went really quickly. It was also cool because the pattern
was knit sort of like an origami pattern, imagine a capital letter T,
then sewn together.

I love the handles I found on sale at JoAnn's too. The shape is just right.

My only real complaint is that I don't feel I did a very good job with the seaming, I won't rip it out, I'm too lazy :), but I do want to make another one and do a better job. I was a little reluctant to hold 2 strands together as called for in the pattern, but as you can see this little tote stand up by itself. I do like that part about making such a thick fabric.

I bought yarn and handles to make another one already, :) The next one will be charcoal with black handles.

Yarn Crawl Stash 1

Kitchen & Yarn Stash 037, originally uploaded by tanyalizbeth.

This is the finest of my Yarn Crawl purchases from my first yarn crawl.

All the LYS's in my local area got together and had this cool even where you bought a passport and got it stamped at each store you visited. If you showed your passport you also got a free ball of yarn at each store.

This lovely yarn is going to be a hat for a certain sib of mine, not to me named since it will be a gift. The pattern I chose is this free one that I like, the New York Hat.

This is Rowan Wool Cotton and it is really soft and yummy. The color is a perfect, manly olive color. I will, of course, post a photo of the finished hat once the sib in question has received the gift.

Artfibers in San Francisco

Link above to picture of Artfibers.

Kurasawa, originally uploaded by tdamommio.

I got a chance to go to Artfibers in San Francisco when I was there on vacation. It was so awesome! The building is tucked in between others on a busy street in SF's business/finance district. I sat for a long while in their yarn tasting section and swatched several other yarns before I decided on this one. It's called Kurasawa and is 50% Merino and 50% Silk. It feels absolutely luscious in your hands and on your needles.

My current plan is to dye this yarn in a color I haven't chosen yet. I am a little terrified about dying this because it was so expensive and I love it so much. Luckily, the lovely lady working there when I visited gave me the ball from the yarn tasting bin since I was taking the last of this color. So I have a little extra I can test on and experiment with colors.

This yarn will be used for the sweater pattern pictured which was custom designed for me on their software. First I chose the basic style, cardigan. Then I selected the pattern that appealed to me, lower half is ribbed. Then they took all my measurements, put them into the software, and voila! I was able to specify the type of neck opening, etc.

Now I just have to get up the nerve to dye it and knit it into my first ever sweater. I am hoping to knit this as part of a KAL (knit along) I joined on Ravelry that is going to correspond with NaNoWriMo. Should be a blast.

Bulldawgs Birthday

These photos are of a selection of items I made for a gift basket for my mom's birthday this year. She is on the faculty at the University of Georgia so I thought these colors and images were apropos.


These are jumbo paper clips that I actually found at my grocery store. If you live in Texas then you know the wonder that is H.E.B. It's not a fancy gourmet store or anything like that, just consistent, clean and great quality. Anyway, back to crafts, the images are on paperboard that I punched with my largest circle punch then layered with paper and stamped images.


The notepads were pretty much done the same way. I ran the card stock base down the back of the pad just to make it pretty.



This last one is actually a post-it notepad. The card stock covers it completely and then there is a velcro closure. Makes a great little purse item.

There were some pens too, but they wouldn't hold still on the scanner :) Most of these items were inspired by images from SplitcoastStampers.com.

My mom loved it, of course.

The Shawl of Death...

or at least really annoyingness! I thought I would never finish this shawl!!! It was "commissioned" by my mom for her best friend and I was glad to do it, but it seemed like my life insisted on getting in the way of this thing getting done. It didn't help either, that I had to go back to the yarn store once to change the color (my first choice I didn't like when I got it home) and twice more after that to buy more yarn! That's what I get for not doing calculations.

I guess some people, mean people, might say I waited too long to start the darn thing. They could be considered "right", if you are inclined to that type of thinking. I would like to point out, however, that I had to start this sucker three times! Some noble knitters will just snicker and say "that's what swatching is for". I get that, I really do, but most of the time I feel like I have no spare time for anything extra. I have learned my lesson, probably.

The first two patterns I tried did not work with this yarn, at all. Let me back-up a step and tell you what this is you are looking at. The yarn is Skacel Adagio in a rust color. The pattern I finally settled on is another from the Lion site, the Very Easy Ripple Shawl. I just realized that I shouldn't have told anyone what the pattern was called :) the shawl looks way better than a "very easy".

The first two patterns I tried are from this cool site, Free Vintage Knitting. I tried the Harmony and the Sonata patterns. Both looked really cool and were near impossible with the type of yarn I was using. The Harmony was especially tricky because of the triple yarn-overs, they caused a lot of twisting and made moving stitches along nearly impossible, even on my Addi Turbos. (I am including links to tons of stuff for the newer knitters who may not have heard of some of these products. :)

I better thank my husband, in print, for putting up with a few days of maniacal knitting when I was trying to finish. That's him holding up my creation for the camera.

So, the end result is the shawl you see here. I am hoping to be able to post a picture of the recipient with her gift soon. I am actually pretty proud of this project, especially since I just started knitting in January of this year.

PS. A member of my local Stitch N Bitch has pointed out to me recently that I have stuck with knitting for more than six months, so I guess I can officially count it among my hobbies. Hooray!

Felting is Fabulous Fun!

OK, many of you already know this, but felting is awesome. You can take a piece of ho hum knitting and turn it into this really finished, professional looking piece with a little hot water and soap. I adore it. Simple stockinette or garter stitch turned into gorgeous works of art, what's not to love?

This is a picture of my first felted piece, a purse. It is made with Lion Brand Wool in Dark Teal and Flower Garden. You can find the free pattern here: Lion Brand. You have to register to use Lion's free patterns, but it's free and they have an option to receive no mail, etc.

I have been kicking myself because I didn't take any before pictures of this bag. Obviously I decided I didn't like the handles in the pattern. Frugal me, I got these handles off a thrift store purse :) Only 50 cents! I love stuff like that.

I will post again soon with pictures of the awesome Denise needle case I made and felted.

Mosaic Mania

OK, I am finally going to put another post on here. I decided I could put up a few pictures of past glories to at least have a little content, right?

Last year's craft addiction was Mosaic. I am actually still doing a little but only rarely. Here are a couple of the more heroic projects I undertook:


This is the bird bath I made for my daughter's Kindergarten teacher, an avid backyard birder. I bought the birdbath at the local hardware and then added my own touch. The little tiles are about 2x2 inches and are actually hand rolled out by me at my favorite local ceramics place, The Work*Shop.

Then, after they were bisque fired, I took them to my daughter's art class at school and had each kid paint one tile and put their thumb print on another. After that I put each kid's name on their tile using a liner brush and turned their thumb prints into Ed Emberly critters. Have I ever mentioned that I have three children? Or that I am a glutton for punishment.

Anyway, after the second firing I mosaiced (is that a word?) the tiles into the bowl of the bird bath along with a tile I made for the center with the teacher's name and the school year, etc. Oh yeah, and I put some marbles in to fill some holes and add some fun. And there you have the insane lengths I will go to, to make my crafts seem useful! Well, we happen to love that teacher too.




This one is the bench!! that I made for my son's teacher the same year. Well, after the bird bath I had to do something, right? So I couldn't find a bench I liked anywhere and I eventually talked my husband into building one! Obviously he loves me very much. Did I mention there was a really tight deadline?

In this case the kids were older so I let them paint what they wanted to fit the theme of gardens and simply limited the palette so all the tiles would match. The teacher that received this was actually in tears. She brought me over to her house over the summer to see where she had placed the bench and told me how she sits on it every morning to enjoy her coffee. It was extremely gratifying. I don't always get to see how much people enjoy my crafty gifts.

Favorite Free Knitting Pattern Links

These are some of my favorite free knitting pattern links:

http://www.freevintag... (vintage patterns, mostly late 60's) This site has some really cute shawl patterns that would make great evening wraps. It has easy to follow instructions.

http://www.knittinghe... (free patterns and free how-to videos) The videos on this site taught me how to cast-on and how to knit and purl. It is really awesome and she has collected some good pattern links.

http://www.knitty.com... (funky & fun patterns) I will post some pictures of the cute little pacifier tethers I made from a pattern on knitty. This is a good place to look for patterns that are a little out of the ordinary.

http://www.knittingpa... (you name it, they have it) This website has more patterns than you cold ever knit. Luckily it is broken down into categories, so you can pretty easily find what you are looking for.

http://www.dailyknitt... (lots of mod patterns) This site has fewer patterns to choose from but they seem to have been selected carefully to fit a certain type of image. They are typically more modern looks for clothing and accessories.

The Crafting Addiction

If you are anything like me then crafting is more of an addiction than a hobby. I am forever diving head and wallet first into a new craft. I don't dabble at a new craft, oh no, I must get ALL the stuff and be consumed by a passion for this craft for at least 6 months. Of course, inevitably, this passion will fade and I will be left with a bunch of stuff I no longer want. Some of these crafts stick, however, and I return to them as long-lost friends when the fever passes.

Tole or Decorative painting is my constant love over the last 11 years. I think the reason I have stayed so loyal to this craft/art is my friends at the HOTT (Heart of Texas Tolers) . These lovely, and talented ladies (who are also hotties) keep me enthused about painting and provide a place and time for me to paint. As all you truly dedicated crafters know, the time and place are the most crucial elements of getting anything done. [Did I mention that I have three children? :)] HOTT is a chapter of the international SDP (Society of Decorative Painters) which publishes a nifty members only magazine full of painting designs and patterns.

Crafting passion for 2007, so far: Knitting! Yes, I have taken up knitting. I have completed 2 1/2 scarves and purchased a cubic ton of yarn, of course.

This blog will hopefully showcase some of my more successful forays into the world of crafting and perhaps it will provide a cautionary tale or two about some of my more spectacular blunders. You can also see what my less addicted husband and I come up with together at CraftyCouple.blogspot.com

Happy Crafting!